Throughout its history, the ICA has been a vital site for the development of critical and cultural theory, and alternative means of producing and advancing diverse forms of knowledge. ‘Learning’ is taken to encompass the many ways in which the production and presentation of culture provokes questions, changes perceptions and generates possible futures. The ICA organises a broad range of programmes, gathering people in the ICA building and elsewhere, with the ambition to progress challenging ideas that span culture, politics, activism and social justice. 

These programmes loosely sit within three areas: individual talks and large scale convenings centred on particular intersections of critical thought and practice; long term research often conducted with research partners, such as higher education institutions; and platforms for knowledge and skill sharing between young people and artists, activists and cultural leaders, forming a Social Creative Network.